File compression issues

[YellowPeril]

Hi,

I have a Macbook Pro and the memory is starting to get full. I have tried compressing some files using both the native file compression tool and WinZip for Mac but after the file has been turned into a Zip file it still has the same file size as before. Any ideas?

 

[honestone]

Do you mean hard disk space is getting low?

We need some more information before we can help you:

1. What Mac OS are you using?

2. What exact MacBook Pro machine do you have?

3. Have you done any disk cleanup/maintenance/repairs at all? And, do you have a robust disk maintenance program like TechTool Pro or Disk Warrior?

4. How much free space is on your internal drive?

5. Do you either MacKeeper or CleanMyMac on your machine (or something similar)? If so, get rid of them IMMEDIATELY, as they do more harm than good.

6. Do you have any anti-virus software on your machine? If you do, that will slow things down, and you really do not need it.

If the original internal hard drive has never been replaced, it could be going "bad".

 

[YellowPeril]

1. I'm using the latest version: El Capitan 10.11.5
2. MacBook Pro (Retina, 13-inch, Mid 2014)
3. No repairs or cleanups.
4. About 60gb
5. No I haven't installed those

I think you misunderstand my issue. I'm merely trying to compress some video files both on my Macbook and external hard drive to free up more space. However, when I compress video files using the native compression tool and WinZip for Mac the zipped files are shown as being the same size as the pre zipped file.

I have lots of music and video files which I would like to compress but the compression tools don't seem to be doing their job. Any idea why?

 

[honestone]

You had stated "the memory is starting to get full". Computer Memory (ie, RAM, ie, Random Access Memory) is not the same as hard disk space. Issues with RAM come up when one tries to run one or more applications, and there is not enough RAM to handle it efficiently. Hard Disk space is where one stores stuff.

Now, 60 gb is not that much free space. Also, with very little (or none, in your case) disk cleanup/maintenance/repairs done, that will lead to extra, unneeded space taken up, and also decreased performance.

As for compressing video files, I have not needed to do that. So, maybe someone else can offer a solution/solutions. Here are the results of a google search for "How to compress video files on a Mac":

https://www.google.com/search?q=How...69i61j69i60.9087j0j7&sourceid=chrome&ie=UTF-8

The last link on the first page talks about Handbrake. I have used Handbrake, but not for compressing video files. Apparently, one can use it for that purpose. Handbrake has been around for quite some time, has stellar reviews, and is a good product (and it's free!). You can get it from here:

https://handbrake.fr/

 

[Cory Cooper]

Hello and welcome.

Zip compression doesn't really save any disk space when compressing audio and video multimedia files, as they are already compressed by the codec used to author and store them.

WinZip: Why don't some files compress very much?

That is probably the cause of your issue.

C